Hollywood Park

A Memoir

By: Mikel Jollett

Narrated by: Mikel Jollett

This program is read by the author and includes original music from the Airborne Toxic Event album Hollywood Park.

Hollywood Park is a remarkable memoir of a tumultuous life. Mikel Jollett was born into one of the country’s most infamous cults and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction, and emotional abuse. Yet, ultimately, his is a story of fierce love and family loyalty told in a raw, poetic voice that signals the emergence of a uniquely gifted writer.

We were never young. We were just too afraid of ourselves. No one told us who we were or what we were or where all our parents went. They would arrive like ghosts, visiting us for a morning, an afternoon. They would sit with us or walk around the grounds, to laugh or cry or toss us in the air while we screamed. Then they’d disappear again, for weeks, for months, for years, leaving us alone with our memories and dreams, our questions and confusion.

So begins Hollywood Park, Mikel Jollett’s remarkable memoir. His story opens in an experimental commune in California, which later morphed into the Church of Synanon, one of the country’s most infamous and dangerous cults. Per the leader’s mandate, all children, including Jollett and his older brother, were separated from their parents when they were six months old, and handed over to the cult’s “School.” After spending years in what was essentially an orphanage, Mikel escaped the cult one morning with his mother and older brother. But in many ways, life outside Synanon was even harder and more erratic.

In his raw, poetic and powerful voice, Jollett portrays a childhood filled with abject poverty, trauma, emotional abuse, delinquency and the lure of drugs and alcohol. Raised by a clinically depressed mother, tormented by his angry older brother, subjected to the unpredictability of troubled step-fathers and longing for contact with his father, a former heroin addict and ex-con, Jollett slowly, often painfully, builds a life that leads him to Stanford University and, eventually, to finding his voice as a writer and musician.

Hollywood Park is told at first through the limited perspective of a child, and then broadens as Jollett begins to understand the world around him. Although Mikel Jollett’s story is filled with heartbreak, it is ultimately an unforgettable portrayal of love at its fiercest and most loyal.

Amazon.com Best Books of the Year - 2020

Esquire Magazine Best Books of the Year - 2020

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books

Praise for Hollywood Park:

"Musician Mikel Jollett is the tender voice of this harrowing memoir of a tumultuous coming-of-age.... Listeners will hang on every word, especially in the early chapters, which take place during his childhood. Jollett is very giving as he presses on in a raspy voice, sharing details of poverty, deprivation and drugs. Fans of his music will appreciate the short bursts at the beginnings and ends of chapters. The musical interludes soften the harsh realities he recounts as listeners celebrate his resilience." (Audiofile Magazine)

"Mikel Jollett, the front man of indie band Airborne Toxic Event, chronicles his tumultuous life.... What comes through the pages is a story of fierce love and family loyalty. This moving and profound memoir is for anyone who loves a good redemption story." (Good Morning America, 20 Books We're Excited for in 2020)

"The frontman of rock band Airborne Toxic Event chronicles, in gorgeous and exacting lyricism, his harrowing coming-of-age within (and eventual escape from) the Church of Synanon, a violent religious cult." (O, The Oprah Magazine, The 30 Most Anticipated Books of 2020 (So Far)

©2020 Mikel Jollett (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Musician Mikel Jollett is the tender voice of this harrowing memoir of a tumultuous coming-of-age.... Listeners will hang on every word, especially in the early chapters, which take place during his childhood. Jollett is very giving as he presses on in a raspy voice, sharing details of poverty, deprivation and drugs. Fans of his music will appreciate the short bursts at the beginnings and ends of chapters. The musical interludes soften the harsh realities he recounts as listeners celebrate his resilience." (AudioFile Magazine)

Brilliant!

Mr. Jollett you have opened up the door for all of us to not only tell the tragic story of our live but to also do it in an undeniably brilliant true way. This audio book narrated by you the Author, is true epic poetry.

One of the best!!!!

Mikel Jollett is a masterful writer. HIn Hollywood Park, he lays himself bare. Mikel will make you feel like you are a part of him, experiencing all of his highs and lows. Thank you, Mikel. Your book has helped to understand my own life.

sad it's finished

I highly suggest getting the companion album from The Airborne Toxic Event snippets of witch are played between chapters. and also their first album on which some of the songs that he talks about writing or included

Captivating

My interest in this book came from the fact that the writer was raised in a cult. I’ve had similar issues as I was raised in one, too. It turns out that he was my age and our music taste growing up was the same. So much for me to relate to. Really an amazing journey!

Overcoming a difficult childhood

I found Mikel to be very honest about his feelings during many difficult times in his childhood and young adult life. Even with the negative events that occurred in Mikel’s young life, I found this to be a feel good story.

Humbling

Can't imagine how this person survived his childhood and came out as whole as he did. Maybe your born with the survior instinct.

emotional experience!

I found myself in his shoes even though my life was a polar opposite of his. Would highly recommend this book to all walks. I am inspired!

Thoughtful

really makes you think about the relationships in your life. who and what everyone is to you.

Love this book!

Brilliantly written introspective story. Highly recommend. Just finished rereading it for my book group. Even better the second time!

A must Read

Inspirational, heartbreaking and triumphant all rolled into one beautifully written and narrated book. I couldn’t get enough. I was so sad when the book ended because O just wanted more.

I laughed, cried and learned throughout the entire book. Mika is a wonderful narrator and tells his own store magnificently.